Megadeth, In Flames @ Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide 21/3/2023
The Adelaide Entertainment Centre precinct was absolutely buzzing with people heading out to experience live music last night with two big shows in the venue. In the Arena it was Rod Stewart/ Cyndi Lauper and Jon Stevens and in the Theatre it was one for the ages in Megadeth supported by In Flames. Simply put, live shows don’t get any better than this. It would be hard to find anyone who could hand on heart say that their cup was not more than filled with what was on display. Even the legendary Megadeth front man acknowledged in their set that he struggled to understand why bands skipped Adelaide as we should be called “Metal City”. The crowd atmosphere was incredible and no doubt after the long flights to get here the energy in the room definitely lifted the collective spirits for both bands. The Theatre was packed pull of metal fans of all ages and what was cool was seeing all the different vintage Megadeth t-shirts in amongst the ones purchased by fans for this tour.
In Flames opened proceedings and they more than warmed the staged for what was to come. Their set was full of fire and brimstone and they played with such intensity that literally lifted the roof off the Theatre. Great Deceiver was up first followed by Pinball Map and Cloud Connected. Front man Anders Fridén took a moment to say “you guys look the same but older” acknowledging that whilst this wasn’t their show but were grateful for the support. Fridén added send they would go back to the early days and if that made your legs move, your night will be happier. It was then Behind Space and ‘more disco music from the 90s’ in Graveland.
After The Hive, Fridén thought was pretty good rating it an ‘8.8 out of 10’ trying to rev the crowd up which he thought was easy to say on the microphone but if he was in the crowd he would be at the back of the venue drinking beer. A couple of times Fridén thought the crowd was to quiet and nice and what to play here more often. He also stated that their new album is awesome and would make people happier. Only For The Weak, My Sweet Shadow and Foregone Pt. 1 were rock solid with the later rated a ‘9.5’ by Fridén and that State Of Slow Decay would be at least a ‘9.8’. Finishing their set on Alias, I Am Above and Take This Life Fridén said they shouldn’t be waiting another ten years to return.
The change over between bands felt like an eternity and the fans started to get restless chanting Megadeth in hope that this would speed up their arrival on the stage. Wow! The opening song Hangar 18 was an absolute belter to get the crowd going. The legendary Dave Mustaine took a minute to bask in the adulation from fans who continued to chant Megadeth. Dread and The Fugitive Mind and The Threat Is Real were full throttle maintaining the intensity. Mustaine had these metal fans in the palm of his hands with fans literally lapping every word said. Saying it was great to be here playing in front of their friends he went on to explain the dream state he was in to write the lyrics for Angry Again (which was written for the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Last Action Hero) where some ‘fucker’ kicked over his guitar.
Sweating Bullets was a huge moment in the set sending the crowd in to hyper drive. She -Wolf and A Tout Le Monde were epic moments. After Dystopia a fan asked Dave Mustaine to take his shirt to which he replied ‘I’m to old’. Tornado Of Souls was brilliant with Mustaine even referring to the ‘mother fucker of a guitar solo’ in it. Trust would be in the show highlights reel as well. Mustaine took a breather and shared with fans his cancer diagnosis and that it was a challenge he was going to accept describing the energy from fans as being the greatest thing. He also wanted to energise the thrash community getting people to fall in love with metal again after having the highest charting record of their career with The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! Going deeper saying ‘pity the fool who doesn’t respect thrash music fans’ the song We’ll Be Back took on some anthemic qualities.
Things went to another level with crowd favourite Symphony Of Destruction and the crowd found plenty of voice on set closer Peace Sells. The band returned for an encore and the legend Dave Mustaine took a minute to soak up the atmosphere and appreciation from the crowd. The show was brought to an end on the epic Holy Wars… The Punishment Due with many concluding that this show will go down as one of the year’s best. It was an incredible show with Megadeth proving beyond doubt they are still on top of their game.
Live Review By Rob Lyon